Ministry often seems like a very placid vocation. We engage with congregants as they heal from their surgeries. We attend birthday parties and anniversary celebrations, officiate weddings, and baptize babies and adults.

I'm an Episcopal priest and my wife is a "parish" priest, which means that her "day job" -- if there were such a thing in a church (not) -- is shaped by the rhythm and demand of caring for the spiritual needs of a congregation.

We came to appreciate how much our respective faith communities could benefit from more curiosity and less judgment about the correct "formula" for clergy education, and more shared conversations with those from other faiths.

The parable of Baltimore is one that we need to learn from if our responses are ever to be as deep as the problems are. And admitting that the things we accept and don't accept do indeed have to do with race is a first honest step.

During Holy Week, I knew I needed to carry my cross down and share the love of God. I cannot let hate and violence continue without question. For the follower of Jesus, the biggest questions are always in the form of a cross.

The Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by Governor Mike Pence last week, is one of the most biased pieces of state legislation we've seen in our modern era. The fact that it is cloaked in the name of religious freedom is particularly offensive to me as a member of the clergy who has been engaged in ministry and social justice work my entire life.

The deaths of unarmed black individuals at the hands of law enforcement and the shootings of members of law enforcement has forced America to take a deeper look at the legacy of our problematic racial history.

As an ordained minister of a small Lutheran congregation, I am uniquely committed to the social and religious institution of marriage and the role it plays in raising children and in providing life-long companionship.

Let's not mix religion and politics. We need gifted leadership in both government and religion. I strongly recommend that the individual members of our Mainline Protestant churches dedicate themselves to becoming the talented and ethical political leaders our country and the world so badly need.

I have opinions, and if you read my weekly blogs regularly you know that I do not hesitate to voice those opinions. But I am not opinionated. I like to think that I base my opinions on "evidence and good reason."

In New York City, since protests began over the treatment of African-Americans caught up in the criminal justice system, the police union there has done everything possible to inflame tensions and undermine civil authority.

I knew why Bill wanted me to see this movie. He wanted me to see it because in the character he saw a figure living out the life that I have long sought to live. Now having seen the movie, I feel like I have a better chance of doing just that.

Four studies published in the Journal of Family Psychology indicate that cultivating practices such as selfless prayer, spiritual intimacy and compassionate love can help keep couples happily together through the challenges of marriage.